■s  >>1 


'54 
'’a- 


he  Ahmednagar 
Hospital  in  India 

For  Women  and  Children 


JUST  outside  the 
gates  of  the  Ah- 
mednagar hospi- 
tal is  a Hindu  shrine  to 
the  idol  Mahadev. 
Through  all  hours  of 
the  day  the  temple  bell 
keeps  ringing,  as  wom- 
en entreat  the  stone 
image  and  lift  praying 
hands  for  the  longed- 
for  blessing  of  a son. 
Long  vigils,  merciless 
fasts,  offerings  of  mari- 
gold and  jasmine  are  un- 
availing, for  Mahadev 
hears  not,  nor  cares. 
Inside  the  hospital  gates,  in  clean,  airy  wards,  are 
crowds  of  women  and  children,  who  have  come  from 
near  and  far,  because  they  have  learned  that  the  Amer- 
ican doctors  and  nurse  do  care,  that  they  are  “jag- 
grata” — wide-awake,  and  ready  at  all  times  with  their 
ministry  of  healing.  Relatives  and  friends  have  told 
of  marvelous  experiences  and  of  a strange  new  reli- 
gion which  knows  no  caste,  where  Brahmin  and  out- 
caste,  rich  and  poor,  may  share  alike  in  the  limitless 
capacity  and  kindness  of  the  “Bai  Sahibs”  from  for- 
eign lands.  Such  confidence  have  the  sufferers  in  the 
“medicine  water”  and  the  wise,  kind  smiles  of  the 


doctors,  that  they  believe,  as  one  of  them  said,  “If 
she  gives  only  water  our  women  get  well.’’ 

Every  Day  Sufferers 

Cases  of  all  sorts  come  to  the  hospital,  some  pa- 
thetic, some  amusing,  some  that  grip  the  heartstrings. 
A boy  of  fifteen  was  brought  in  totally  blind,  both 
eyes  having  been  burned  with  a red  hot  iron  which 
had  left  an  ugly  scar  directly  across  the  pupils.  The 
father  admitted  he  had  done  it.  A little  girl  of  eleven 
was  brought  by  her  mother-in-law.  The  child  had 
fallen  down  a well,  and  presented  a dislocated  jaw,  a 
huge  gash  under  her  chin,  a large  scalp  wound,  and  a 
badly  crushed  arm  where  the  bone  had  pierced  the 
flesh  in  two  places.  She  stayed  two  months  and  when 
told  she  w'ould  soon  be  able  to  leave  the  hospital,  she 
began  to  cry,  and  to  protest  that  she  did  not  want  to  go. 

The  doctor  was  recently  called  upon  to  visit  a girl 
of  fourteen  who  had  borne  her  second  child  and  who 
had  been  lying  on  the  floor  in  a dark,  dirty  room,  un- 
conscious for  two  days.  She  was  a pretty  little  thing 
and  her  husband  a toothless  old  man.  In  the  next 
house  was  a patient  very  ill  with  pneumonia,  a woman 
of  seventy.  She  was  lying  on  a ledge  jutting  out  of 
the  wall  in  a dark  corner,  nothing  under  her  but  empty 
bags,  nothing  over  her,  no  pillow  for  her  head,  no  clean 
sheets,  only  an  old  sari  wrapped  around  her. 

One  Hospital  That  Helps 

The  American  Hospital  for  Women  and  Children 
at  Ahmednagar  consists  of  a large  two-story  stone 
hospital  building  with  wide  verandas,  a small  isolation 
building  for  cholera,  small-pox,  etc.,  a nurses’  home 
built  of  brick,  and  a bungalow  for  the  American  staff, 
besides  suitable  servants’  quarters.  The  main  build- 
ing contains  a children’s  ward,  maternity  ward, 
surgical  and  medical  wards,  private  rooms  with 


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three  or  four  beds,  and  fairly  well-equipped  operating, 
lying-in  and  sterilizing  rooms.  The  dispensary,  drug 
and  store  rooms  are  on  the  ground  floor.  There  are 
about  fifty-eight  beds  indoors;  cribs  can  be  attached 


FRON'T  OF  HOSPTTAT.  AND  TNDTAN  STAFF 


to  these  by  a hook  at  each  end.  The  tubercular  pa- 
tients arc  kept  on  the  verandas,  as  there  is  no  spec- 
ial building  for  them. 

Recent  Additions  and  Improvements 

Until  lately  emergency  operations  at  night  have 
had  to  be  performed  by  the  light  of  smoky  kerosene 
lamps,  but  now  electric  lights  are  being  installed  in 
hospital  and  bungalow.  The  money  for  the  fixtures 
was  raised  in  India.  An  Indian  woman’s  commit- 
tee, largely  non-Christians,  known  as  the  Bombay 


Presidency  Woman’s  Council,  contributed  1000  ru- 
pees; a prominent  Parsee  merchant,  whose  wife  had 
been  a patient  at  the  Ahmednagar  Hospital,  sub- 
scribed generously  and  sent  out  letters  to  friends 
asking  for  help.  A septic  tank  has  been  built  to  care 
for  sewage  from  the  hospital,  nurses’  home  and  bunga- 
low. Tanks  have  been  built  on 
the  tops  of  these  three  buildings 
to  supply  them  with  sun-heated 
hot  water  for  bathing  and  wash- 
ing. The  kitchens,  store-rooms 
and  servants’  houses  have  been 
rebuilt  on  safe  and  deep  founda- 
tions and  solid  walls  without 
inch-wide  cracks  to  let  in  rain, 
wind,  rats  and  snakes. 

The  Beginnings 

Dr.  Julia  Bissell  of  Wellesley 
College  and  the  Woman’s  Medi- 
cal College  of  Pennsylvania, 
opened  a dispensary  in  a native  house  in  1895.  Her 
efforts  to  acquire  a well-equipped  hospital  resulted  in 
the  present  building,  which  was  formally  opened  in 
1904  by  the  Governor  of  the  Bombay  Presidency, 
Lord  Lamington.  Her  goal  achieved.  Dr.  Bissell  broke 
down  in  health  and  was  obliged  to  leave  the  work,  but 
her  college  has  always  helped  to  carry  on  her  hospital. 

The  Staff 

Dr.  Bissell  was  followed  by  Dr.  Ruth  Hume  and 
Dr.  Eleanor  Stephenson,  graduates  of  the  same  col- 
lege and  medical  school.  Dr.  Stephenson  gave  ten 
years  of  devoted  service  and  then  left  the  hospital  to 
be  married.  From  1912  to  1918  Dr.  M.  Clara  Proctor 
reinforced  the  staff  with  her  love  and  skill.  Dr.  Hume 
joined  the  Mission  in  1903  and  during  her  twenty 


DR.  RUTH  HUME 


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years  of  service  has  at  times  been  obliged  to  carry  on 
the  hospital  without  an  associate  doctor.  When  leav- 
ing for  furlough  in  1921,  she  turned  over  the  responsi- 
bility for  the  hospital  to  Dr.  Harriet  J.  Clark  of 
Seattle,  a woman  of  large  experience  as  a physician, 
with  a background  of 
overseas  service  in 
Greece  with  the  Red 
Cross.  Miss  Elizabeth 
Johnson  of  Tabitha 
Hospital,  Chicago,  has 
been  superintendent  of 
nurses  since  1908.  To 
her  patience  and  devo- 
tion, as  well  as  that  of 
the  doctors,  is  due  a 
large  measure  of  the 
success  of  the  nurses’ 
training  school,  which 
is  an  important  part  of 
the  institution. 

The  Indian  staff  con- 
sists of  eighteen  per- 
sons: the  sub-assistant 
surgeon,  Mathurabai 
Tekchand,  who  is  a 
graduate  of  the  Bom- 
bay High  School  and 
has  taken  a course  at 
the  Women’s  Christian  Medical  College  in  Ludhiana; 
two  Bible  women,  one  of  whom,  Baghubai  Satralkar, 
has  for  thirty  years  conducted  the  daily  service  in  the 
dispensary  and  visited  the  inpatients,  the  other,  Mary- 
bai  Mankar,  having  charge  of  the  follow-up  work  in 
the  homes;  a matron,  Jaibai,  succeeding  Tulsabai  Ra- 
hator,  who  served  loyally  and  competently  for  thirteen 
years;  a compounder  in  charge  of  the  drug-room,  an 


DR  HARRIET  CLARK 

Receiving  garland  and  fruit  sent  by 
a grateful  patient 


5 


assistant  in  charije  of  the  operating  room  and  twelve 
nurses. 

More  About  the  Nurses 

, Nursing  used  to  be  considered  a degrading  occupa- 
tion for  girls,  but  that  prejudice  is  gradually  disap- 
pearing. Nurses  can  now  earn  good  pay  in  govern- 
ment hospitals.  Girls  must  be  seventeen  or  over  to 
be  admitted  to  the  Training  School  with  its  three- 
and-a-half-year  course.  Each  one  is  expected  to  con- 
duct alone  twenty  normal  midwifery  cases  before 

receiving  her  di- 
ploma. These  home 
confinement  cases 
and  the  village 
clinics  give  each 
girl  a varied  ex- 
perience and  re- 
responsibility for 
which  she  might 
well  be  envied  by 
many  a district 
nurse  in  America. 
This  year  most  of 
the  girls  are  former 
boarding  school 
pupils. 

Contending  with 
Ignorance 

One  day  a wom- 
an who  was  given 
a powder  to  take 
at  once,  took  the 
paper  the  powder 
was  wrapped  in  as 
part  of  the  medicine.  Another  woman  who  was  to 
give  a preparation  that  should  be  shaken,  shook  the 


MOHAMMEDAN  FAMILY 

The  Wife  a Hospital  Patient 


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child  Instead  of  the  medicine!  When  directed  to  give 
a medicine  once  in  so  many  hours,  people  ask  where 
the  shadow  will  be  when  it  should  be  given,  for  their 
only  clock  is  the  sun.  Patients  protest  very  forcibly 
against  baths  when  they  have  fever.  Ninety  per  cent 
of  the  children  brought  to  the  hospital  have  been  fed 
opium  most  of  their  lives.  It  seems  almost  impossible 
to  impress  on  uneducated  women  the  danger  of  this 
practice,  but  girls  educated  in  mission  schools  cannot 
be  induced  to  give  opium  to  their  children.  The 
staff  have  recourse  to  rewards  and  prizes,  as  well  as 
to  education  and  persuasion,  in  the  matter  of  break- 
ing the  opium  habit.  For  example,  at  Christmas  time 
when  former  patients  came  for  the  special  Bhajan 
service,  every  woman  who  had  fed  her  baby  no  opium 
for  a year  was  given  a pretty  jacket. 

With  Caste 

One  day  a very  ill  high-caste  girl  came  to  the  hos- 
pital for  medicine.  Her  husband  consented  to  her 
staying  when  told  it  was  her  only  chance  for  life. 
Although  two  caste  cooks  prepare  the  food  for  the 
non-Christian  patients,  they  did  not  happen  to  be 
of  her  particular  caste  so  she  would  have  considered 
it  an  unforgivable  sin  to  eat  hospital  food.  It  was 
arranged  that  her  meals  should  be  brought  from  home, 
but  her  mother-in-law  who  was  opposed  to  her  stay- 
ing in  the  hospital  would  not  send  enough  nourishing 
food  and  the  girl  grew  weaker  and  weaker.  It  was 
impossible  to  make  any  impression  on  the  heartless, 
obstinate  old  woman,  and  finally,  rather  than  break 
her  caste  by  eating  what  was  forbidden,  the  girl  went 
home  to  die. 

The  caste  system  seems  a stone  wall  in  the  path 
of  progress.  Educated  Indian  men  recognize  this 
fact  but  until  the  Indian  women  also  recognize  it  the 
wall  will  stand.  A few  weeks  spent  in  this  hospital 


r 


as  a patient  has  led  many  a high-caste  woman  to  see 
that  she  and  her  low-caste  fellow  patients  have  many 
things  in  common.  She  sees  the  Christian  doctors 
and  nurses  working  over  sick,  wretched  outcastes; 
she  begins  to  think,  to  feel  pity  and  sympathy,  and 
later  to  show  these  in  some  way.  So  the  Christian 
hospital  is  one  of  the  potent  influences  already  under- 
mining the  caste  barrier. 

With  Great  Distances 

One  morning  a cart  drove  up  to  the  hospital,  two 
men  and  an  old  woman  accompanying  it  on  foot,  and 
inside  in  a huddled  heap  on  the  bottom  of  the  cart 
lay  a woman  at  the  point  of  death.  When  Dr.  Clark 
remonstrated  with  the  men  for  not  bringing  her  ear- 
lier, she  learned  that  they  had  been  traveling  for  two 
days  and  two  nights.  After  the  patient  was  taken  in 
and  made  comfortable  and  it  was  found  that  nothing 
could  be  done  to  save  her  life,  her  husband  insisted 
on  taking  her  home  to  die.  When  told  that  she  would 
probably  not  live  through  the  day,  he  replied  resigned- 
ly, “If  it  is  God’s  will  what  can  I do?’’  and  the  sad 
little  group  set  forth  on  their  forty-eight  hour  trip. 

Such  a scene  would  be  intolerable  to  remember 
were  it  not  for  the  memories  also  of  hundreds  of  cases 
where  patients  have  not  come  too  late;  where  the 
life  of  a child  has  been  snatched  from  the  jaws  of 
death ; where  a woman  who  has  suffered  hopelessly  for 
years  has  been  relieved  and  restored  to  health  by  a 
single  skilful  operation;  where  an  emaciated,  wailing 
baby  has  been  made  over  into  a sturdy,  rosy,  happy 
child. 

The  Wellesley  Ford 

The  car  given  by  Wellesley  College  to  Dr.  Hume 
will  extend  by  many  miles  in  every  direction  the 
usefulness  of  the  hospital  and  saves  much  precious 


8 


time  and  strength.  The  doctor  can  now  respond  to  a 
“hurry  call”  in  a tithe  of  the  time  in  which  the  old 
jolting  two-wheeled  carts  could  carry  her.  And  vil- 
lage clinics  can  be  extended  further  and  further  afield. 
The  doctor  takes  medicines  and  a nurse  to  some  of 
the  scores  of  villages  in  the  district.  The  local  teach- 
ers or  preachers  gather  into  the  schoolhouses  all  who 
need  attention.  Sometimes  a single  treatment  is 
enough  for  a cure;  in  other  cases  medicines  are  left 
with  the  teacher  to  administer;  yet  others  are  urged 
to  come  to  the  hospital  for  treatment. 

Preventive  Work 

One  of  the  doctors  has  often  accompanied  Bible 
women  in  their  visits  to  the  homes  and  has  added  to 
the  Gospel  story  advice  on  hygiene,  sanitation  and 
the  prevention  of  disease.  She  has  given  health  talks 
at  the  Brahmin  Women’s  Club  and  other  women’s 
meetings. 

During  the  occasional  epidemics  of  bubonic  plague 
there  is  always  a panic  and  a great  demand  for  inocu- 
lation which  people  put  off  and  evade  as  long  as  pos- 
sible in  normal  times.  They  are  gathered  for  the 
purpose  in  outlying  villages  by  government  agents 
and  others;  the  doctor  responds  to  the  call,  while 
inoculation  goes  on  all  day  long  at  the  hospital. 

The  Government,  which  is  trying  to  stamp  out 
plague  in  India,  appreciates  the  efficient  co-operation 
of  the  hospital  and  shows  its  appreciation  in  prac- 
tical ways.  The  hospital  has  the  privilege  of  securing 
drugs  and  supplies  from  the  Government  Medical 
Stores  at  much  lower  prices  than  market  rates.  In 
epidemics  of  small-pox  and  cholera,  the  hospital  is 
a tower  of  strength  in  the  community. 

Best  of  All 

The  message  of  Christ’s  love  and  pity  is  here  writ- 
ten in  a language  even  the  illiterate  can  read.  For 


9 


since  the  days  in  Galilee  when  Jesus  laid  His  hands 
in  healing  on  the  sick  there  has  been  no  surer  way  of 
reaching  a sin-sick  soul  than  through  relief  of  a pain- 
sick  body.  The  Bible  women,  Bhagubai  and  Marybai, 
supplement  the  work  of  doctors  and  nurses,  and  in 
the  hospital  the  Indian  women  catch  glimpses  of  an 
almost  unbelievable  hope.  At  Christmas  when  the 
story  of  a wonderful  Son  is  told  with  all  the  charm  of  a 
Bhajan  song  service,  it  captivates  their  hearts.  For 
in  India  preeminently  do  women  understand  God’s 
priceless  gift  of  His  Son. 


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God  had  an  only  Son  and  He  was  a Missionary  and 
Physician.  David  Livingstone. 


THE  AMERICAN  BOARD 
I 4 Beacon  Street 
Boston,  Mass. 


